Banggai Cardinal, reading... beh. f' let's
place 9/11/08 Dear Crew, <C> I need your
help. I have a 55 gallon FO (50lbs of LR and 100lbs of LS) tank since
February. I added a yellow tang, 2 ocellaris fish, 1 Banggai Cardinal,
<Mmm, are social animals> 1 Singapore angelfish <Needs more
room than this> (a birthday gift my sister gave me), and a cleaner
shrimp - all added in March and all getting along. All Juvenile in
size. Up to date all my live stock were doing well, healthy appetite
and all. My tank gets a 20 gallon water change every two weeks. Two
weeks ago, I purchased a Longnose Hawkfish <Also...> and a royal
Gramma. I was told by one of the employees at a reputable aquaria shop
that these two fish would do well in my tank. At first the royal Gramma
was a bit shy, but after 3 days it was swimming out in the open and
eating. "Mysteriously" it has disappeared. <Mmm... perhaps
"jumped out"... most likely> Aside from the disappearance
of the Gramma fish, I noticed that my cleaner shrimp who use to crawl
all over the tank, is now recluse in a cave like entry to one of the
rocks. <Or the Gramma may have perished, this Lysmata consumed
it> I thought nothing of it and suspected he was molting and on this
past Sunday, I found his molten shell. <Typical behavior... again,
perhaps coupled with the big feeding> I was about to do a water
change and I noticed that my Singapore angelfish was lying on its side
breathing heavy at the bottom of the tank. <Very bad> I
couldn't understand why, he was swimming strong and eating well the
night before, I didn't notice anything strange on him the night
before. I checked my levels and all was clear except for my PH which
was at 7.7 or 8.0 (seemed a little low). <Mmm, this is a logarithmic
scale... the diff. you state is HUGE> In any case, I made a water
change to see if my angelfish would perk up, but that didn't
happen, he died later that afternoon. Needless to say, I was really
saddened, and perplexed as I don't know what caused his death.
<At least too much stress... again, these Angelfish species need
much more room than this> Since then I've been keeping an even
closer eye on my tank. Today, Wednesday, I noticed that my Banggai
Cardinal has this stringy transparent film like substance hanging from
his side fin, and around the top fin as well. He seems lethargic, and
his eyes, there is something about his eyes that I can't seem to
explain, but they look different almost plastic. I fed the tank and as
food went by him, he paid it no mind. Usually he's the first to go
for the food. <Mmmm> I know that Banggai Cardinals tend to stay
in one spot of the tank or another, but my cardinal swam openly
everywhere, <Looking for others of its own kind... please, read
before writing us... This information is all archived> he would see
me come close to the tank and he would swim to the top because he knew
it was feeding time. Today he didn't do such thing. He's just
floating right above the sand. Is there anything I give him that my
heal him? <...> As for the cleaner shrimp, when the food made its
way down to the bottom of the tank, he came out of hiding to eat, but
as soon as he saw the Longnose Hawkfish come near he retreated into
that hiding place. I am going to return that fish tomorrow. <A good
start> I searched the site for the Banggai Cardinal Diseases but I
didn't see what I'm describing on there. Your feedback as
always is appreciated. ~C from the Bronx <Please:
http://wetwebmedia.com/banggaicomp.htm Your system may have other
issues... water quality definitely, perhaps some sort of pathogenic
involvement... Do you know of an "advanced aquarist" who
might come by, give your set-up a look-see? Bob Fenner>

Re: Banggai Cardinal, reading... beh. f' let's place
9/12/08 Good Morning Bob, <Cielo> Thank you for
responding. I'm sad to say that my Banggai passed away yesterday
afternoon. I returned the Lysmata back to the aquarium store and
explained what has been going on in my tank. Like you, they suspect
it's a pathogenic situation going on in my tank. Last night when I
returned from the store, I sat in front of my tank to observe my 3
remaining fish. I noticed that one of my Ocellaris has a something
fuzzy or white on the first white stripe on his face (forehead). Also
its poop is white and stringy. It might be Brooklynella or
Lymphocystis. <Mmmm> I've been told once, twice, thrice,
about setting up a quarantine tank and like a fool I chose to ignore
such sound advice. I played roulette and now I'm paying the very
expensive consequences for not having this set up. I believe this
pathogen or parasite was introduced into my tank when I purchased and
introduced the Lysmata and the royal Gramma into the system. It was
after introduced them into the tank that my live stock started dying.
I'm going to purchase at least a 10 gallon tank so that I can
transfer the remaining fish and quarantine them. I have 2 clown fish, a
yellow tang, <Will need more room...> and a cleaner shrimp left.
From what I've read on this site it looks like a freshwater dip is
in order and then return them to the quarantine tank. <Should be
dipped/bathed enroute to the isolation... Otherwise you'll be
contaminating it as well> But what do I do about my main tank where
the parasite/pathogen is residing? How do I get rid of it. I read
somewhere that perhaps leaving the fish in the quarantine tank for
about a month, might kill off the thing if it doesn't find a host.
But I'm wondering if there is something else I need to be doing?
Thanks for such a great and informative site. Any further feedback is
greatly appreciated. Gone are the days of no quarantine. ~Cielo
<Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/parasittkfaq2.htm and the
linked files above, until you understand your situation, options...
there's a bunch to know that's pertinent. Bob Fenner>

Banggai cardinals, beh. 05/02/2008 Dear WetWeb crew,
<<Hello, Andrew today>> Thank you for all of the great
information on your website. <<Thanks for the nice
comments>> I have a simple question (I hope), but first I know
you will probably want to know about the tank and need this information
to give me a good answer so here goes: the aquarium is 110 gallons,
30" tall. There is a rock structure on each side, made of egg
crate, tufa and lace rock, zip ties and some pond foam to hide the
frame and there's some rock stacked in the middle on the tank
bottom. There is a power head with pre-filter filter pads zip tied over
intakes in each structure to prevent water from getting stagnant under
the rocks. The filter pads over the intakes are to spare shrimp and
small fish that hide in those areas. We have an oversized filter, rated
for tanks up to 250 gallons, because we are at a high elevation
(+6000' above sea level) and need the extra oxygenation. It's
one of those new hybrid filters that resembles both canister and
trickle type filters and has an integrated protein skimmer and
pre-filter. The temperature is currently 76 degrees. There is 125 lbs.
of tufa and 40 lbs. of live rock. Ammonia is 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates
<10 (10 is the lowest color band on the indicator I have &
it's lighter than 10), pH is 8.2, I did not check Carbonate
hardness this time, but it is usually in the acceptable range. Specific
gravity around 1.023. The tank has been running about 10 weeks
<<Sounds good>> Occupants: 40 lbs. live rock, live sand,
numerous copepods and amphipods, 6 peppermint shrimp, 1 coral banded
shrimp, 6 emerald crabs, 1 purple urchin (med. spine length), 1
mushroom coral cluster, 1 button polyp cluster, maybe 75 dwarf hermits
crabs (scarlet, blue leg & jade-yellow tip), 1 lettuce slug, Astrea
and Nassarius snails (about 2 dozen), 2 Ocellaris clowns, 1 Jawfish, 2
cardinals. <<Its a high amount of hermits you have in there,
ensure extra algal matter is available to them for food. Same goes for
the lettuce slug>> On Friday (It is now Monday) I added the two
Banggai cardinals and the Jawfish to the aquarium. I had read that
Jawfishes often go on a hunger strike for up to a week in a new tank
and that I should offer live brine shrimp to encourage it to start
feeding. <<Usually correct, yes>> So before the fish
arrived, I had set up a continuous hatch and feed brine shrimp system.
When the fish arrived I drip acclimated the cardinals for three hours
and gave them a bath of Methylene blue for 15+ minutes. The Jawfish
still looked stressed after three hours so I allowed another hour of
drip for him. The cardinals were actually eating brine shrimp while
still in the acclimation box which got siphoned out of the main tank!
So, I figured they would give me no trouble at all. That night all was
well, the cardinals had eaten frozen Cyclops and live brine shrimp and
the Jawfish had found a rock to hide beneath. The next morning, I could
only see one cardinal. I then found the cardinal at the side of the
tank between the rock work frame and the glass. (We have the rocks
zip-tied to eggcrate to prevent rock falls and the frame is camouflaged
with waterfall pond foam, which is supposed to be fish safe. Fingers
crossed...) So I gently pulled the rock frame away from the glass and
he swam out, but he hung around the shrimp hatcher all day looking
stressed. <<Seems natural, can be timid and is looking/seeking
protective cover>> That was Saturday. On Sunday, yesterday, he
looked much improved. He did not look stressed. He was not gulping.
Respiration looked normal. He was venturing away from the hatchery a
bit. Then I noticed that whenever he came out to pursue a swimming
brine shrimp, the other cardinal would go after him and nip him back
into hiding. This morning when I got up, the same cardinal was wedged
between the glass and the rock frame again. <<This is obviously
the chosen place where it feels best protected. Some aggression is
commonly seen between two of these when the pairing is starting to
form. You could target feed into the cardinals protected area with a
turkey baster to ensure that food is received by the hiding
fish>> So finally I come to my questions; is the fish wedging
itself into a hiding place to escape the dominant cardinal? <<I
would say so, yes>> Is a school of two fish just too small?
<<Two of these are quite fine and after the initial spats between
them, normality should resume. Another factor is if there is a male and
male together in your tank, rather than a male and female>> In a
normal school of fish, would one fish be the dominant fish with
aggression divided among all the others, and being divided, less
severe? <<Dominance will ensue through the chain>> Do I
need to add more cardinals to lessen the stress on the one fish? What
other reason would there be for a fish to wedge itself somewhere.?
<<Its possible two males are together here, and not a male and
female. Please do read more here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cardinal.htm and linked articles and
FAQ's reference sexing / behavior>> Should I add a spacer of
some kind between the rocks and glass, so the fish can hide without
getting wedged in? <<I would ensure that the fish cannot actually
get trapped here, yes>> Your help is much appreciated, Sherry
<<Thanks for the questions, hope this helps. A Nixon>>

Banggai's come out at night, 1/15/08 Hi Crew,
<Hello> I purchased two Banggai cardinals which I have had now
for six days. I understand they do not travel well so I made sure to
turn all lights off and acclimatised them over a period of several
hours to my tank. <Best to QT these like all fish, plus gives you
time to try to get them feeding on prepared foods and establish
themselves after shipping without competing with tankmates.> Even
although I have 20 kilos of live rock in a 180 litre tank, they both
seem to huddle together at the water surface during the day. <They
do tend to prefer subdued lighting, and are nocturnal hunters in the
wild.> I have not seen them eating even although I watch carefully
at feeding times. <If these are wild caught they can be difficult to
feed initially, requiring live food often and need to be taught to
accept prepared/frozen food.> The only tankmate who has taken an
interest in them is my strawberry basslet who has taken a few runs at
them if they get to near 'his' rocks. Other than that they are
left to their own devices by the other fish in the tank (1 clown, 1
blue spotted puffer, 1 yellow wrasse, 1 strawberry basslet, 1 Tailspot
blenny). I have been keeping a close eye on them and they do not appear
to be labouring for breath or showing signs of illness. The strange
this is that when I turn the lights on in the morning (the blue light
goes on for 15 minutes before the other T5's are turned on) they
appear to have been swimming around during the night. <Their
preferred foraging time.> They are usually in the water column in
the lower half of the tank looking alert and active with their fins
erect, but when the lights go on they huddle together at the surface
again and they appear to pull their dorsal fins in. I'm worried
that they are not eating as I obviously don't feed through the
night, and also if this behaviour is normal for these fish? <Is
normal, those big eyes are designed for nocturnal hunting/foraging, and
they generally hide out during the day. May want to try feeding a
little after lights out and see if they will accept the food.> Are
they nocturnal / diurnal in the wild? <Yes> Also how am I
supposed to feed them if they won't eat during the day? <Time
and patience, feeding is one of the most difficult parts of keeping
these fish, which otherwise make excellent aquarium residents. See here
for more http://www.wetwebmedia.com/banggaifdg.htm .> All tank
parameters are stable (temp 80f, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, ph 8.2, nitrate
10ppm) <Ok> Thanks for any help you can give, Mark W <I
encourage you to move these fish to a QT tank where it is easier to
train them to accept non-live prepared foods.> <Chris>

Banggai Highfin cardinal sucking air Hello, I have a Banggai
Highfin cardinal that is at the top of the tank acting like he needs
air. He has appeared to be happy for the last month since I added him.
everyone else seems happy. Its a 55 gal. tank with 60 lbs. of live
rock, a dual regent filter and a power skimmer. This is my first salt
water tank (3 mo.s since start). If you need more info let me know.
Thank You Mike Snow >>>Hello Mike, What other fish are in the
tank along with the cardinal? It sounds to me like he may be stressed,
perhaps from being harassed by another fish. Have you noticed any
aggressive interactions in the tank? Cheers Jim<<<

Missing Banggai Cardinalfish Hey there again, just trying to
keep my queries separated. <Appreciate this> OK, new issue. My
Banggai Cardinal simply vanished!! I've been looking all over the
tank for him and he is gone. He stopped eating for a while but this was
following what appeared to be a mating ritual with (what I thought was)
his partner. The larger one, I think to be the male, is the one that is
missing. Is this guy really missing, or just hiding out before he
"belches" out a bunch of fry from his mouth?
<Don't usually hide that much... Very likely either jumped out
(any smiling cat cats about?), or died and was quickly consumed or
decomposed...> I'm scared that he may be lost and can
potentially foul the tank. How long should I wait to not see him before
I panic? <No panic necessary, warranted. Look about the
outside of the tank, amongst the decor/rock... keep an eye on your
tests for ammonia...> And when I say panic, I'll take apart the
reef in an attempt to find him if it means keeping the rest of the
stock. In other strange disappearance news, my Scott's Wrasse that
I told you about earlier has been acting strange. Is it possible that
he is being bullied by my two tangs? (Kole and Indian Ocean
Hippo) <Maybe> Every time that he goes to settle to hide
out (if he is spooked) one of the tangs will rush to the area behind
the rock and flush him out. <You likely need more
"caves", nooks and crannies... some "blind" (with
no opening in their back> I like it because it keeps him into he
open. But now, after he's been in the tank for about a week, he is
GONE about 3 hours before the lights turn off. Also, Recently I caught
him belching out brown material, he looked not so good. . . Like the
Cardinal, we have searched everywhere and cannot find him every three
hours before the lights go off. . . What gives? <Hiding... probably
in the substrate/gravel... to avoid the Tangs, possibly you... No
worries though... will learn to come out in time> For your reference
our light cycle is as follows: ON --> Actinic 2:30 PM Daylight 3:30
PM Off --> Daylight 11:30 Actinic 12:30 AM Thanks so much, Separate
query on the way! <Can't wait. Bob Fenner>

Stocking questions Hello Bob, It's been a while since
I've written. Your advice is always great, so I haven't had any
problems to write about! But I do have some questions I hope you can
help me on again. I have a 125 gal with 160 lbs live rock. My current
inhabitants include a blue damsel, percula clown, coral beauty, 2
Banggai cardinals, yellow tang, purple tang, and a few cleaner shrimp,
snails, scarlet crabs, and a brittle star. All my fish are happy and
eat well. The 2 tangs tussle from time to time, but are usually fine
with each other. My first question is about one of the cardinals. I
checked the FAQs and couldn't find anything there. One of them
always looks great. Nice colors and eats well. The other one looks a
bit different, though. The parts of his/her body that are normally
white/silver (on these cardinals) always appear to be a very dark gray,
almost black sometimes. However, at feeding time, he darts around for
food, and his color comes back. You can't even tell the two apart
when they're eating. But, when the food is gone, the one turns dark
again. I keep thinking he is sick, but he's been this way for about
a month. Isn't breathing heavy, always eats, never gets picked on
(that I can see). Any ideas? <Yes, one is sub-dominant, likely both
are males, and the smaller, weaker one is signaling its subdominance by
changing its color, and likely by its behavior> Like I mentioned
earlier, everyone else in the tank looks great. I soak all food in
vitamins at least 3 times a week. I also wanted to ask your opinion on
my stocking options. There are three more fish I would love to have in
this tank: a Naso tang, a bi-color blenny, and a flame angel. Do you
think that three tangs in a 125 is too many? <The Naso will
get quite large here, in time. The Blenny and Angel are better choices,
s/b fine> I think the Naso is the only one I have worries about
adding. Please let me know what you think. It is always good to hear
your thoughts. Thanks much in advance! <You're welcome my
friend. Be chatting. Bob Fenner> Jason

Banggai Cardinal Hi Crew <Howdy> I have a beautiful
Banggai Cardinalfish, in a 200 gallon marine reef tank in
the UK. I have no problem with him, other than he makes a 'clicking
sound'. I have read your articles on the
Banggai cardinal fish and I cannot see anywhere, where is
says a clicking noise is made. Is this usual? <Mmm, no...
just requires that folks listen carefully> Perhaps, he/she is asking
me to feed him/her? <Maybe... or communicating with other life in
the system> I wonder if you could tell me about the clicking noise
they make, and what it indicates? I have had the fish for almost 7
months now and he is a very happy fish, not at all
shy. He has plenty of live rock and places to hide around,
but he is always on display and chases around his smaller
Pyjama fish, tank mates. He also like to go
inside the Malu anemone and plays with the clowns. Thanks for an
awesome website. <Welcome> Could you reply to me by email if
possible, as I have just had spinal surgery and cannot sit for
long at the PC at the moment. Linda <We reply directly to all, as
well as post on WWM... Sorry to read of your surgery, Bob Fenner, who
tweaked his lumbar area a few weeks back in HI pulling weeds and is
still mal-affected> Banggai Cardinal - 03/09/2006 We
have 2 Banggai Cardinals. The very tip of their front dorsal
fins (approx.1/16")has turned white and appears to just wave
around with movement. They have been this way for
about 3-4 weeks and the white area seems to be getting larger, but very
very slowly. Any idea what it is and what we should do about
it? Bob & Jinni Horn Tank info: Tank size in
Gallons?:...75................ Age of tank :..6 months.................
Total amount of liverock aprox..60 lbs............. Substrate 3"
of live sand............. Temp.....78 degrees Sump 12
gallon............ Prefilter Yes.............. Wooden hood over the
light........... Aprox amount of evaporation per day:.1
gallon............ Frequency of water changes &amount changed: 5
gallons Bi weekly Salt mix:.."Red Sea.".......... Additives
used:. Kent Marine Concentrated Iodine, Reef Success Coral
Grow............... test kit:. Saltwater Master Liquid Test
Kit................. adding calcium:. Manual as needed................
Aprox water turnover X times (filter) per hour:....7............
Lighting:. HO Fluorescent........... Bulbs:..2 white 2
blue............... Total watts of lighting (all
lamps):...440............ Timers ...Yes......on 12 hours per day
Water:.. RO/DI............. Protein skimmer .Venturi.......... Tank
parameters......... -Calcium...................320 mg/L
-Magnesium.........Unknown
-Alkalinity........................12 dKH
-Ammonia..........................0 mg/L
-Nitrites..............................0 mg/L
-Nitrates.............................0 mg/L
-Phosphates..................... .5 PPM
-Specific Gravity.............1.023 -Water
Temp..........................78f Water Flow > 7
times tank volume per hour <I suspect there is nothing awry with
your cardinals here... "just" normal color/growth. Your
set-up and water quality looks to be acceptable to fine. Bob Fenner>
Question on Banggai Cardinalfish - 04/22/2006
Greetings! I have a Banggai Cardinalfish who recently has
stopped eating (at least while I'm watching the tank). I
purchased the Banggai several months ago, after several failures
with them -- previous Banggais did not feed very well, then stopped
feeding, then started breathing heavily, and then died. The
current Banggai, though, has been doing great for months. Eats
regularly, remains active, and has grown quite large. But
this past week, he's stopped eating, and now his breathing appears
heavy -- behavior I'm familiar with, unfortunately.
<Disturbing...> The tank is a 30-gallon reef tank; the readings
on temperature, salinity, and so forth are all in the normal
range. The Banggai shares the tank with a yellowtail damsel,
two firefish gobies, and a blenny, as well as a few invertebrates
(shrimps, crabs, snails). There doesn't seem to be
excessive competition among the fish -- I'm feeding them brine
shrimp (not live) <Mmm, hopefully not exclusively> , and up until
early last week the Banggai as well as the others have liked the food
and have seemingly been able to get enough of it. But now,
the shrimp float up in front of the Banggai, and he ignores it
completely. Not good. I've been reading readers
questions on the FAQ page about Banggai Cardinalfish, and it seems that
most of the problems that develop do so shortly after purchase -- not
several months down the road. Is my Banggai just old, or is
this normal, or ... what? <Don't know here... perhaps a crowding
component... definitely nutritional deficiency possibility...> I
think they're one of the most beautiful fish I've ever seen,
and I would love to continue to have one (or two, or three) in my tank
-- but not if something I'm doing or not doing is killing
them. Any thoughts? <A comment... am out at the Western
Marine Conference and some of the speakers and attendees have mentioned
the lesser hardiness of this aquarium species in recent years... Given
the size of your system, the presence of the damsel... I would hold off
on keeping Banggais here... and a last note... I would only feed
frozen/defrosted Artemia occasionally... perhaps every few days. Bob
Fenner> --Eric Scott